Overview

• In closing arguments, Federal Prosecutor Laura Mazzaferri requested a 14-year sentence, 136 million pesos in restitution for victims, and a lifetime ban on running rehabilitation centers.
• She also asked the court to seize two properties on Génova Street, the church site, five vehicles, and two motorcycles alleged to have facilitated the crimes.
• The prosecution framed the case as aggravated labor trafficking and added counts of unlawful deprivation of liberty and unauthorized practice of medicine.
• According to the case file, nine victims—mostly young men, including a minor and a person with disabilities—were kept without IDs or keys, required to seek permission to leave, and put to work in street vending, two shops, and church maintenance.
• The trial before Judge Roberto Falcone addresses conduct from 2001 to August 2022 tied to the El Shaddai church and its PCRA program, with the defense scheduled to present its arguments next Monday.